Well-known member

So, First I want to thank you all for this site and the awesome advice that you so freely handout. When I came here I had no idea what I was doing but I knew I was frustrated taking care of my new hot tub. I was fighting PH and TA constantly using test strips and having to change out the hot tub water almost every 6 weeks because it was getting out of control. After finding this site, buying my TF 100 test kit, and learning the ropes I dumped the hot tub Ahhsome flushed it. and have been using the TF method ever since. So I applaud you all for being patient and helping all of us newbies.

Now for my other question, It has been 4 months since I switched to the TFP method and I am still on my original water with no issues. The water is clear and holding up well at this point but I am curious how long can you actually go? We are in the middle of winter and I really don't want to drain it and refill it right now. If I need to can I just drain half of it and as a temporary hold over? I plan on Ahhsome flushing again in the spring and doing a good cleaning but I would love for the weather to be above freezing to do that. Also just as some background we use the spa almost every night so it does have a lot of water loss to evaporation and my wife and I getting in and out. I probably have to top it off every week and a half to 2 weeks so I guess it has had some water changeover during the 4 month period.

Edit: I just wanted to add that this method of maintaining the hot tub is so easy that when I am out of town my 12 year old daughter can even test the chlorine levels and add chlorine.

Great question I have the same one haha.. I am in Iowa. I think my new hot tub water is about 2 months old now.. hoping to get it to late march before i need to change it... Even better would be early April when the pool stuff is done so i can move it to its final spot.

Watch your combined chlorine test levels, (CC) to gauge water quality. You can reduce your CC by opening up your spa cover to improve air exchange and expose to UV light. If CC gets too high then yes at least replace some of your spa water if your ambient temps make draining and purging impractical. I also think its important to clean the filter every 30 days to remove trapped contaminants. Most important is to do exactly what you are doing, full purge of system with a quality surfactant and sanitizer, balancing fill water with TFP method, frequent testing of sanitation levels and pH, not allowing sanitation levels to drop below target levels and minimizing water contaminants during usage.

Well-known member

Watch your combined chlorine test levels, (CC) to gauge water quality. You can reduce your CC by opening up your spa cover to improve air exchange and expose to UV light. If CC gets too high then yes at least replace some of your spa water if your ambient temps make draining and purging impractical. I also think its important to clean the filter every 30 days to remove trapped contaminants. Most important is to do exactly what you are doing, full purge of system with a quality surfactant and sanitizer, balancing fill water with TFP method, frequent testing of sanitation levels and pH, not allowing sanitation levels to drop below target levels and minimizing water contaminants during usage.

Ok, So far I have not had any CC issues. Mine is usually around .5-1 ppm. Maybe due to how much we use it and have it open.
One other question can the salt levels get to high by using bleach? One of the posters above said the salt levels will get to high and cause corrosion on the heater.

From everything I have read here and elsewhere bleach, aka sodium hypochlorite, adds a small amount of salt each time you use it - the long running TFP resident chemistry expert Chem Geek has posted in the past that for every 10 ppm of FC from bleach that is added you will get 16.5 ppm of salt. So if for example you are adding 6ppm FC every day it would take quite a while for the salt to build up - 100 days would only be 990 ppm added salt...

I don't think the salt levels from using bleach are worth worrying about - bathers probably add more! Get your FC, PH, TA, CYA, and CH in check and you shouldn't need to worry about corrosion. By the time you do a water change the salt will still be relatively low in the grand scheme of things.

Heck, my plans are to convert to a salt spa soon and use a SWCG - I will be adding 2000-2400 ppm of salt to my water when I do the conversion.

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